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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693173">Crash and Burn</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetopheliac/pseuds/sweetopheliac'>sweetopheliac</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>And The Stars Go With You [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cyberpunk &amp; Cyberpunk 2020 (Roleplaying Games), Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Feels, Character Death, Named V, Origin Story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:54:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,051</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693173</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetopheliac/pseuds/sweetopheliac</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In one moment everything can change. At the tender age of 10, V witnessed the loss of her mother. That would be the beginning of her downfall.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>And The Stars Go With You [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178600</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Nomad || Lavinia "V" Vega</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Crash and Burn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>  In the blink of an eye everything had changed.</p><p>     Over the radio she heard her mother's voice. The sound had woken her up. Her mother's voice was rushed, filled with excitement and a tinge of annoyance. But right in the middle of her talking came a loud BANG! The sound of metal scraping against metal. Her mother's anguished scream. Her father screams into the radio asking a million questions. Other voices start sounding off.</p><p>     The car they're in starts speeding up and she's fully awake now. Tiny hands grab hold of the seat belt that's buckled snuggly around her. Grip is tight as she holds on for dear life. The vehicle comes to an abrupt halt, the seat belt keeps her from being flung to far forward. From the windshield she catches a glimpse of something on fire, yet the hulking figure of her father hides most of the scene. Her father grabs the rifle that's the passenger seat, loading it up and leaving the car. She unbuckles herself and turns around, watching as dozens of cars pull up with their headlights blaring through the darkness of the night. Voices are muffled but the sound of gunshots is clear as day.</p><p>     She leaps out, eyes wide as she surveys the chaos. People are gathered all around with weapons in hand. Several more shots are fired.</p><p>                   "Kenny, man they're dead stop wasting ammo!" </p><p>                                       <strong><em>Dad!</em></strong><br/>
             With evasive speed, she worms her way through the crowd.</p><p>    "Lavinia stay back!" one of the older women who babysat her before calls out while trying to reach and grab her. But it's too late. Lavinia's already made her way to the very front, giving her a direct view of the grotesque scene. </p><p>     A heavily armored Militech Behemoth is on her left several feet away. There's barely a dent in it. Scattered near it are crumpled bodies of what she assumes to be it's inhabits, laying in pools of blood mixed with sand and gore. Her father isn’t in sight. Leo, the Clan leader is. He’s looks cross with his arms folded and a rather angry expression on his face. Lavinia notices he isn’t looking at the corpo vehicle, doesn’t even seem bothered by it. She follows his gaze. There she sees her mother’s modded jeep flipped over, nearly crushed and a small fire where the engine is. She feels her blood run cold. There’s only a millisecond of hope when she sees her dad emerge holding her mother. But something’s wrong.</p><p>       In his arms, he cradles Venus, her mother. Crimson clings to her beige skin. Her dark locks are messy, all over the place. Wounds ooze out and shards of glass can be seen sticking out of her flesh. </p><p>            “I need a doctor!” her dad yells. No one steps forward. </p><p>            “No you don’t, Kenny. You know as well as I do she’s dead. No medical attention can help her now. Besides we have to conserve supplies.” Leo replies. “I’ll contact the client and let them know the situation. Otherwise,” he now turns his attention to the rest of the caravan, “We get the hell out of dodge before more corpo asshats show up. Put some distance between us and this mess.”</p><p>            That seems to get everyone moving back to their cars. Lavinia just stands there in silence, watching her dad sob holding onto her mother. Her emotions feel all over the place and yet at the same time, she feels numb. A nightmare. This has to be a nightmare. She’ll wake up in the back of her dad’s car. It’ll be morning and she’ll have breakfast with both of her parents. Everything will be back to normal.</p><p>           “You have to leave her here.” Leo looks back at Kenny. “Can’t take her with us.”<br/>
                 “NO! I’m not... I can’t! I have to at least put her to rest, Leo. She would have wa-”</p><p>            It seems like an argument’s about to break out before one of the Clan’s physicians finally speaks up. “I’ll take her. Once dawn hits, we can stop. Bury her and get back on the road.”</p><p>             Leo’s quiet for what feels like an eternity. He lets out a sigh coupled with a shake of his head. "Fine. But come first light, you put her in the ground." It's after he says that when he finally takes notice of Lavinia. Tears have stained her cheeks and her face is as red as the embers that engulf her mother’s wrecked car.  “Bad shit happens but that’s life. And life continues on. You have to get over it.” His tone is rough and he’s looking at her when he speaks, though whether his unsolicited advice is meant for her or for her father. With that Leo moves past her back to his big-rig truck and makes his way back towards the highway with the rest of the pack following after him.</p><p>           When the first rays of dawn shine out, they pull over. Her father digs grave and her mother is buried. It’s not the first time Lavinia’s seen such a thing. She remembers once her mother had said that everything comes from the Earth and that’s where everything returns. </p><p>        No one says anything. A few sympathetic looks are given to her and her father. But nothing more. </p><p>        Once she slips into the backseat, her head is laid against the cool glass of the window. Her father says something, catches her attention. She barely glances at him. It’s what’s in his grasp the makes her turn her head towards him. Her mother’s metallic flower crown --- the same one her father had made. He nods for her to take it, so with a certain gentleness she does. Fingers delicately run over the welded blossoms, eyes wide in wonder with tears forming in the corners. She looks up and her father gives her a small smile and ruffles her hair.</p><p>        No words are exchanged between them in regards to the loss. In fact no one talks about it; almost as if it never happened nor that her mother existed. And that is a tragedy in itself. One that sets in motion a brewing of anger and sorrow and starts the cycle of bad coping mechanisms.</p><p>         Nothing is the same after all of it. And everything only seems to go downhill from there.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So this might just be a one shot or I might do a few more drabbles that give insight into my Nomad V's life. We'll see.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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